With a coastline that extends for over 7500 kilometers it is little wonder that most Nova Scotians have an affinity for the ocean. Due to the rugged nature of the Nova Scotian coastline, our treacherous weather, and the poor navigational instruments of past times it was inevitable that ships would collide with reefs and become wrecks. The often heavy seas and strong winds added to the problem and even the most skilled Captain could lose his vessel.

There are many elements available to teachers who wish to develop a unit of study involving the ocean and coastline. One of the elements is the study of the many shipwrecks, which can be found along our coastline.

The names Mont Blanc and SS Atlantic are well known in our history. Learning about the many other ships which came to grief on our shores will give students a greater insight into the development of the Province. Shipwreck Central.com is here to assist students in discovering these wrecks.

Shipwreck Submissions

Our Interactive Shipwreck Map belongs to all of us. It is your portal to shipwreck information around the planet and here at home in Nova Scotia. As you travel the map you will notice that we have just begun to build the shipwreck record. You will note that you can add your own relevant shipwreck information to the map, thus helping build a database that we all share.

With an estimated 10,000 to 25,000 wrecks marking Nova Scotia's coastline there is ample opportunity to have your students research Shipwrecks and add them to our shipwreck map.

How you can get involved

Begin the lesson by having students watch the some of our Shipwreck Search webisodes. Emphasize how the documentary research team determined when the ship sank and how they found its remains. Hold a class discussion about how the research team found answers to their questions. Focus on the following questions:

• Who makes up the team of researchers and workers in an underwater forensics expedition?
• What job does each team member perform?
• How do they work together to answer their questions and uncover ships buried underwater?
• Why is this information still relevant?

Divide students into pairs and tell them their challenge is to research another shipwreck. They will uncover why the ship sank, how information was gathered, and, if available, how individuals with different expertise worked together to find the ship. Students should write a report of their findings and include the following key points:

• Provide a brief detailed history of the ship including: tonnage, displacement, length overall, beam width, nationality, era, year built, place built and service history
• Describe what is known about why the ship sank, her last voyage
• List the approximate latitude and longitude coordinates of the shipwreck
• Identify individuals involved in the location/identification effort (if available)

This is an opportunity for schools and the community to work together to record and assemble their own local history - centered on a maritime theme - into a unique testimony and to participate in showcasing this history on the Shipwreck Map and beyond. Remind students that history is a process of interpreting evidence in a thoughtful and informed way; it is the narrative that gives meaning, sense and importance to the past in the present.

Students and others working on Shipwreck research projects could access resources such as:

• Graveyards
• Local Museums
• Maritime, explorers and settlers literature
• Government Archives
• Local written histories
• Local Heritage Committees
• Local Historical Societies
• Community Elders
• Libraries
• Family histories
• Internet

Allow students class time to prepare their reports; encourage them to include photographs, other images or video. Have them add their wrecks to the Shipwreck Map on Shipwreck Central.com

Ask volunteers to share their reports with the class. Try to include at least two different shipwrecks by the student presentations.

Conclude the lesson by discussing the role of technology in uncovering these shipwrecks. Does improved technology tell us more about recent incidents? Ask students to consider why it is important to understand what caused a shipwreck. What can we learn from these tragedies?

Nova Scotia Shipwreck Videos

Eco-Nova dive teams have been traveling the planet searching for and filming shipwreck sites for over a decade. Our goal in all our documentaries has always been to bring you to underwater sites that you might otherwise not see and to tell good factual stories to compliment our amazing underwater visuals.

Many of the wrecks featured in our documentaries are located off the rocky coastline of Nova Scotia. Now we are making some of these incredible stories available to teachers and students in Nova Scotia.

Click here to launch player»

Shipwreck Central recommends the following minimum systems specifications for video playback:

Windows 2000 or XP

• 768Kbps or higher broadband connection (test your bandwidth)
• 1GHz or faster Intel Pentium III processor
• 256MB of RAM
• Minimum 1GB of free hard drive space
• Flash Player 7 or higher (some players require Flash Player 8)
• Internet Explorer 6 or Firefox 1.5 or higher

Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later

• 768Kbps or higher broadband connection (test your bandwidth)
• 1GHz or faster G4, G5, or Intel Processor
• 256MB of RAM
• Minimum 1GB of free hard drive space
• Safari 1.3 (Mac OS X 10.3.9), Safari 2.0.4 or higher (Mac OS X 10.4.7 or higher) Firefox 1.5 or higher
• Flash Player 8 or higher

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